Thomas Berdych is the defending champion,but appears not to be playing it. Milos Raonic took a wild card no doubt in a bid to boost his chances to play the Barclays Year End Final. He is joined by, amongst others:

Edit: JJ not able to serve well in that game & gets broken by EG who takes the first set 75, and has the advantage of serving first in the second set. I hope they both play well as I'd like to see a good contest.

Loool! There goes the racquet. EG disgusted at losing his game. Good job from JJ there to take the break. And he's serving well now.

And once again - Looool! EG served underarm on the last serve of his service game. The man is a character, no doubt, but I'm not impressed with this silliness. But he is playing well.

JJ played a sloppy couple of points there & has been broken back.

Some quite superb play by JJ in the last game - what a forehand cross court! But EG playing well too & holding serve to go up 32.

What outstanding play by JJ there. Outright winners on the run, outplaying his opponent with considerable panache. And he breaks to go up 43.

Let's see what EG can do here. He played as well as he could, with a couple of winners, but JJ holding serve.

Gulbis serving well enough,but JJ taking it to 30-40 from 0-40 before EG took the game. He looks ready for a battle. I'd forgotten that he's been off with an injury & this is his first tournament back.

And JJ serves it out in style to take the second set 64. I'm looking forward to the 3rd set & hope it's a cracker.

Well, whilst talking to oneself has its advantages, as this place is emptier than the stands in Stockholm, I'll be off. Williamchung - as things stand, I give JJ the edge, and think he'll win it. But I hope EG has other ideas.

Edit: JJ not able to serve well in that game & gets broken by EG who takes the first set 75, and has the advantage of serving first in the second set. I hope they both play well as I'd like to see a good contest.

Loool! There goes the racquet. EG disgusted at losing his game. Good job from JJ there to take the break. And he's serving well now.

And once again - Looool! EG served underarm on the last serve of his service game. The man is a character, no doubt, but I'm not impressed with this silliness. But he is playing well.

JJ played a sloppy couple of points there & has been broken back.

Some quite superb play by JJ in the last game - what a forehand cross court! But EG playing well too & holding serve to go up 32.

What outstanding play by JJ there. Outright winners on the run, outplaying his opponent with considerable panache. And he breaks to go up 43.

Let's see what EG can do here. He played as well as he could, with a couple of winners, but JJ holding serve.

Gulbis serving well enough,but JJ taking it to 30-40 from 0-40 before EG took the game. He looks ready for a battle. I'd forgotten that he's been off with an injury & this is his first tournament back.

And JJ serves it out in style to take the second set 64. I'm looking forward to the 3rd set & hope it's a cracker.

Well, whilst talking to oneself has its advantages, as this place is emptier than the stands in Stockholm, I'll be off. Williamchung - as things stand, I give JJ the edge, and think he'll win it. But I hope EG has other ideas.

Your instincts were better than mine, Williamchung, and JJ lost. I hope he'll do better next time.

Verdasco pulled out of his QF with Ferrer due to injury, but it isn’t clear whether he’ll play his doubles matches. Ferrer faces Gulbis in the SF.My match of today in Stockholm was the Paire – Raonic one. I’ve been keeping an eye on BP for a while & he played an excellent match to oust MR in straight sets. And Dimitrov is through too, against De Shepper.

My doubles pair here, Dodig/Melo appear not to have played after all, and so my second team is Bjorkman/Lindstedt.

In the singles, I want to see Gulbis beat Ferrer, and am torn between Paire & Dimitrov, as I enjoy both men’s game.

Jerzy has habit that using drop shots when he is disadvantage stage. The problem is his opponent is much more proactive and is able to track down this drop shot at that stage. And also, he push too much on his 2nd serve. He really needs kick serve for his second serve.

Thomas Berdych is the defending champion,but appears not to be playing it. Milos Raonic took a wild card no doubt in a bid to boost his chances to play the Barclays Year End Final. He is joined by, amongst others:

I've finally seen Dodig play a couple times now (doubles & singles).I really like his game, and of course his willingness and ability to move into the forecourt unlike most of the current ATP pros.Nice to see him get his first title in Shanghai.I hope that gives him a boost of confidence for next year.

Jerzy has habit that using drop shots when he is disadvantage stage. The problem is his opponent is much more proactive and is able to track down this drop shot at that stage. And also, he push too much on his 2nd serve. He really needs kick serve for his second serve.

Do you mean he goes for too much or 'pushes' it?I like players who are willing to go after 2nd serves a bit if their ground game is weaker than their opponents. The serve is the ultimate 'take charge' shot and under-utilized by most of today's ATPers. I won't even bother to mention the WTA in this conversation for obvious reasons (Serena W. being the exception).

Jerzy has habit that using drop shots when he is disadvantage stage. The problem is his opponent is much more proactive and is able to track down this drop shot at that stage. And also, he push too much on his 2nd serve. He really needs kick serve for his second serve.

Do you mean he goes for too much or 'pushes' it?I like players who are willing to go after 2nd serves a bit if their ground game is weaker than their opponents. The serve is the ultimate 'take charge' shot and under-utilized by most of today's ATPers. I won't even bother to mention the WTA in this conversation for obvious reasons (Serena W. being the exception).

I believe he goes too much on his second serve. His second serve is about 170-190km and it is very close to line. The issue he is not like Sampras. Kick serve is key for Jerzy to become top player.

I watched the final on Tennis Channel. It was a tense one with both players doing well. Although I normally cheer for Ferrer, I was glad when Dimitrov won his first ATP tournament. Although commentators were saying that his was his breakout year, I had been rather disappointed in his appearances in Washington and Cincinnati so I am glad that he came good. He is, however, an entertaining player, even when he loses. I thought that Dimitrov more than equaled Ferrer in his court coverage and was the better server.

I watched the final on Tennis Channel. It was a tense one with both players doing well. Although I normally cheer for Ferrer, I was glad when Dimitrov won his first ATP tournament. Although commentators were saying that his was his breakout year, I had been rather disappointed in his appearances in Washington and Cincinnati so I am glad that he came good. He is, however, an entertaining player, even when he loses. I thought that Dimitrov more than equaled Ferrer in his court coverage and was the better server.

Jerzy has habit that using drop shots when he is disadvantage stage. The problem is his opponent is much more proactive and is able to track down this drop shot at that stage. And also, he push too much on his 2nd serve. He really needs kick serve for his second serve.

Do you mean he goes for too much or 'pushes' it?I like players who are willing to go after 2nd serves a bit if their ground game is weaker than their opponents. The serve is the ultimate 'take charge' shot and under-utilized by most of today's ATPers. I won't even bother to mention the WTA in this conversation for obvious reasons (Serena W. being the exception).

I believe he goes too much on his second serve. His second serve is about 170-190km and it is very close to line. The issue he is not like Sampras. Kick serve is key for Jerzy to become top player.

I must admit, I haven't seen much of JJ yet.Do you think he could develop a more Sampras-like 2nd serve instead of the kicker?

I watched the final on Tennis Channel. It was a tense one with both players doing well. Although I normally cheer for Ferrer, I was glad when Dimitrov won his first ATP tournament. Although commentators were saying that his was his breakout year, I had been rather disappointed in his appearances in Washington and Cincinnati so I am glad that he came good. He is, however, an entertaining player, even when he loses. I thought that Dimitrov more than equalled Ferrer in his court coverage and was the better server.

That's a scary thought!

It was close. In the deciding third set, about half way through, Ferrer lost the break with a double fault and that was it. So are matches determined!

Jerzy has habit that using drop shots when he is disadvantage stage. The problem is his opponent is much more proactive and is able to track down this drop shot at that stage. And also, he push too much on his 2nd serve. He really needs kick serve for his second serve.

Do you mean he goes for too much or 'pushes' it?I like players who are willing to go after 2nd serves a bit if their ground game is weaker than their opponents. The serve is the ultimate 'take charge' shot and under-utilized by most of today's ATPers. I won't even bother to mention the WTA in this conversation for obvious reasons (Serena W. being the exception).

I believe he goes too much on his second serve. His second serve is about 170-190km and it is very close to line. The issue he is not like Sampras. Kick serve is key for Jerzy to become top player.

I must admit, I haven't seen much of JJ yet.Do you think he could develop a more Sampras-like 2nd serve instead of the kicker?

I have no idea. His second is lack of placement sometime and is lack of accuracy a lot of time. He makes 5-10 double faults in most matches of this year. He still continues doing so and never setback. I don't know it is going to hurt him or not.

I notice that his second serve does not have many spin on it. It is more likely to be flat serve in most of time. Another thing I notice Jerzy stands different positions when he serves 1st and 2nd serve. When he serves 1st serve, he always stand in the middle of half court. When he serves 2nd serve, he moves closer to central line of court. Last thing is his ball toss is very high.

As I mentioned, I don't mind a few DFs during a match if a player is able to use his 2nd serve as a weapon. Lack of accuracy & spin on that delivery is a concern in my opinion. I wonder why he also changes position?